The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Papua Governor Lukas Enembe as a suspect in a IDR 1 billion bribery case. Enembe's lawyer, Stefanus Roy Rening, questioned the basis for the KPK in naming his client as a suspect. 

"During the investigation period, I was informed that the case was under investigation. It means there had been a suspect. A letter from the KPK on September 5, 2022, named the governor as a suspect. However, the KPK has not questioned him at all," Rening said in a written statement.

According to the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), an individual may be named as a suspect if they had two pieces of evidence and has been questioned by the KPK or police investigators as regulated by the Constitutional Court's ruling No. 21/2014.

Rening acknowledged that his team had received information on the case from Enembe, a politician from the Democratic Party. He explained that the IDR 1 billion alleged bribe had been deposited into Enembe's bank account and it was used for his client's medical treatment in Singapore in May 2020.

According to Minister of Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD, Enembe was not the only suspect in the bribery case. He said Enembe has conducted other investigations involving billions of rupiahs in corruption. "There is more to the corruption allegations committed by Enembe than the IDR 1 billion gratuity," he told the press on September 19, 2022.

Suspicion on political engineering

Mahfud claimed that Enembe was responsible for managing billions of rupiah. He also said that the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) discovered the transferred money through its monitoring. "There was storage and management of hundreds of billions of rupiahs," he said.

The PPATK report was divided into 12 analyses and presented to the KPK. Mahfud also said that PPATK found IDR 17 billion in several bank accounts, allegedly belong to Enembe, in addition to cash. The bank accounts have been blocked.

Mahfud said there were several other cases related to Enembe. One of them is an investigation into the allocation of hundreds of billions of rupiahs for Papua provincial administration's operational fund. There are also allegations of fraud in the management of the National Games (PON) and allegations that Enembe has a manager responsible for money laundering.

According to Mahfud, the government finds it challenging to detect any irregularities in Papua provincial administration's budget. He said the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) is also facing a dead end when it tries to examine Papua's financial report. Specifically, he said, BPK always states its disclaimer opinion regarding financial information.

Mahfud emphasized that the cases against Enembe were purely legal and did not have any political motivation. "It is not a matter of political engineering," he stated.

Failing to attend examinations

Alexander Marwata, KPK deputy chairman, urged Enembe to attend the examination. "We will summon him. We hope that he will come to KPK. If he wants the questioning to take place in Jayapura, we will ask for his cooperation to calm down the people," he added.

The KPK first summoned Enembe on September 12, 2022, but he failed to attend. On September 22, 2022, Enembe's lawyer said his client could not attend the second summon due to health problem.

Marwata said the KPK would examine the case professionally. "We strongly respect the presumption of innocence," he said.

Security analyst Stanislaus Riyanta said after the naming of Enembe as a suspect, there was a movement to provoke the people and mobilize the masses.

However, the graft case was based on KPK investigation, which has enough evidence to support its claims. The public should know that corruption is an extraordinary crime involving a substantial amount of money. According to the findings of PPATK, the funds were channeled for gambling.

The government needs to provide transparent evidence to the public. The public should be aware that they deserve to enjoy the the development funds in the future. The funds should not be stolen by their leaders. "The government should take strong measures against those who openly provoke the people to commit violent acts," Riyanta concluded.